Confidence is a prerequisite to enjoy VR’s magic. There are so many things that can go wrong wearing a VR headset and most of us know this before the goggles come down over our eyes. “Discomfort” doesn’t quite encapsulate the risk of wearing something that blocks your view of the real world. Just trying to lean on something that isn’t really there is potentially deadly. Headset manufacturers must overcome this problem to give people confidence to move freely.

And there are so many reasons to stay in the real world too — your family, friends, and TV. Some of the world’s largest technology companies have learned over the last three years that VR headsets will never be mainstream as long as they a.) limit your movement too much and b.) block you off from your friends and family.

The company which solves these problems in an affordable way — with zero setup required — will have a strong position in immersive computing. This article is focused on showing why Google might be best positioned to be that company.

‘Organize The World’s Information’

In September 2015 I asked John Carmack, chief technology officer at Oculus, about the prospect of inside-out tracking technology (the idea that a gadget tracks its own location) for a Facebook VR headset. He said:

“We have like 30 computer vision experts at Oculus from the different companies we’ve acquired and none of them want to just go solve this problem. They’re all working on their esoteric, kind of researchy things while this is a problem that I want solved right now. I wish somebody had spent all of this last year on it.”

For some context, Google had acquired the creator of Word Lens more than a year before that comment was made. The developer had created an AR app which recognized text in another language on signage in the real world and replaced it with a translation in your own language.

While the two technologies aren’t the same — and Facebook has made great progress on inside-out tracking — the acquisition of Word Lens by Google is a key example of how the company makes early investments in people and projects that will pay off in half a decade or more. Google Lens now does what Word Lens did for translation and it is available as a core part of Google’s services and apps across millions of devices. You can search a vast Google Photos library using terms like “paper” to find a document you photographed, or “swimming” for a photo of a pool party. Combine that work with other long-term multi-year efforts at Google like Johnny Lee’s Tango tracking project, and you can begin to see how the company will apply its core goal to VR — “Organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful.”

Room Simulator

For the game Job Simulator, Devin Reimer at Owlchemy Labs spent hundreds of hours figuring out how to build a believable cup of coffee for VR. Layer by layer he discovered aspects of reality he needed to recreate so

Summer sales are now in place across Steam (through July 5), Oculus (through July 1) and Viveport (through July 7), with major savings on some of our favorite VR titles.

Oculus is also offering special deals each day along with packs of top-tier experiences that can be purchased together while HTC’s Viveport is throwing free games into the company’s subscription service. We looked through the sales on each of the storefronts and spotted tempting prices on some of VR’s most popular titles. For example, Archangel: Hellfire, Space Pirate Trainer and Dirt Rally look like particularly good deals. If you spot any other good discounts, please share in the comments. Here’s some of the deals we spotted:

Since opening its doors to the public in 1960, the Anne Frank House in Westerkerk, Amsterdam has become an important reminder of the horrific discrimination Frank and others faced during the WWII era. Ran by the non-profit Anne Frank Foundation dedicated to the preservation of Frank’s original hiding place and story, the 17th century canal

When AltspaceVR was shutting down, I felt a bit emotional about it. I’ve always loved MMOs, the communities they develop, and the people that play them, so when the social VR app, one of VR’s first big breakout pieces of software, was poised to end, it rocked me to my core.

I even edited together a video commemorating it and highlighting the final moments.

But, that end never truly came. Microsoft swooped in and saved the company. As a result, it gets to live on, thrive, and continue pushing out updates.

This week we learned about some ambitious new plans. First up is a brand new “Hangout space” in the game, dubbed Origins. Previously, the default hangout area was the Campfire, but the creators felt it was time for a new “sister” space as they call it. Both will coexist.

There will also be a new Community Leaders Program, so new AltspaceVR users can find experienced people easily to talk with and ask questions. All of the leaders will be wearing badges with a lightning bolt, so it’s always someone that you can trust.

Finally, there are two new game shows coming into the regular rotation: Tongue-Tied and Trivia:

Tongue-tied: Get the right word from your brain to your lips. Better be a quick thinker! Players compete to be the best at naming 6 items based on a category. The trick? You only have six seconds. Play now and see who is can think on their feet.

Trivia: Beat your friends to the answer in this fast paced trivia game between an audience of people. If you make it to the finals, you’ll face-off in a final game show on stage against the best of the best.

Do you still login to AltspaceVR? Let us know what you’ve been up to lately down in the comments below!